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Happy New Year!

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  • The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle-school and high-school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to the NC History Project web site for further information.

  • Visit JLF’s research newsletter archive. Santa does.

CommenTerry

Those of us in the education policy business are going to have a busy 2012. To keep up, review the John Locke Foundation website several times a day, visit the Carolina Journal website a minimum of five times a day, subscribe to my education newsletter, and tell your friends and colleagues to do the same.

Here is a summary of the big changes and events in store for this year:

  1. New standards and tests. Like most states, North Carolina has adopted the Common Core State Standards in English and math. Both will be taught and assessed beginning in the 2012-13 school year. Science, social studies, health, arts, world languages, and career and technical education teachers will be required to use North Carolina’s new Essential Standards and prepare students for new state tests. In addition, high school students will be required to take the ACT and PLAN tests. Career and technical education students will also take the WorkKeys test.

  2. New charter schools. Hooray! Last year, the NC General Assembly eliminated the 100-school cap on charters. The "fast track" application process will allow a handful of charter schools to open this year. I suspect that the state will receive a record number of applicants who seek state approval via the annual charter approval process, which begins later this year.
  3. Larger charter schools and shorter wait lists. The General Assembly also authorized charter school enrollment to grow by up to 20 percent a year. Previously, the state capped charter school enrollment increases at 10 percent a year, which led to long wait lists and few open seats at many charter schools.
  4. New charter school governance and accountability. North Carolina’s charter schools will now be under the watchful eye of the NC Public Charter School Advisory Council. In addition, the Office of Charter Schools at the NC Department of Public Instruction has a new leader. Both will ensure that North Carolina charter schools continue to maintain high academic and operational standards.
  5. Special needs tax credit introduced. Families with children recently enrolled in a public school will now have the opportunity to claim a nonrefundable income tax credit. As long as their children meet specific eligibility requirements, parents can claim a credit of $3,000 per semester (or $6,000 per year) for special education and related services at a private or non-profit facility.
  6. Changes to school boards and county commissions. Education politics is local (more or less). School board and county commission elections typically lead to significant personnel, funding, and policy changes for school districts. Nowhere is this more evident than in Wake County, which begins the year with a newly elected, Democratic-controlled school board and new board leadership.
  7. Federal education initiatives. Education politics is national (more or less). Congress may overhaul No Child Left Behind this year. Not even those who carefully monitor federal education policy know for sure. Even if they don’t, I believe that the Obama administration will unveil new competitive funding programs under Race to the Top and ask Congress to pass another teacher jobs bill.
  8. A new Superintendent of Public Instruction? Apparently, June Atkinson has not made a decision about running for reelection this year. Regardless of her decision, Democrats Rick Glazier and Tricia Cotham are ready to run for the position. Several individuals — including David Scholl, Richard Alexander, and possibly John Tedesco — will compete for the Republican nomination.

  9. Changes to the State Board of Education? The governor selects members to the State Board of Education, including the chair. Governor Perdue appointed Bill Harrison to the chairmanship, but one or both of them may decide that it is time for a change. If Pat McCrory beats Bev Perdue in November, he will make that decision for them. Republican victories in the lieutenant governor and treasurer races would bring new blood to the two ex officio seats on the State Board of Education.
  10. State education budget adjustments and policy revisions. The General Assembly will make changes to the education budget this year, as well as consider bills that made the crossover deadline last year. Teacher jobs and school calendar issues will be two notable policy issues debated during the short session.

 

Random Thought

Congratulations to team AndrewFermat, winner of the Locke FB 2011 fantasy football league.

Facts and Stats

1,465,218 — Month 1 Average Daily Membership (ADM) for NC’s district schools

Mailbag

I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

Education Acronym of the Week

ACRE — Accountability Curriculum Reform Effort

Quote of the Week

"Want to follow the Goliaths of Education Policy?"
— Education Week blogger Anthony Cody on Twitter, December 30, 2011

Click here for the Education Update archive.